EX-DGP now maths teacher

GUWAHATI: Final year students of Sonaram Higher Secondary School at Bharalumukh have a new maths teacher. Former state director general of police, Mukesh Sahay, who hung up his uniform after 34 years of glorious service to the force on April 30, changed his work profile after his retirement and is now teaching mathematics in this school. He has been playing this new role from the first week of May.

Speaking to TOI, the officer-turned-teacher said he would continue to offer his service to society. "I believe it's my payback time to society which has given me so much. Mathematics has always been one of my favourite subjects and I love interacting with young people. This new job allows me to do both."

The idea of teaching struck the former DGP in 2017. "I had visited the school once and learnt that they were in need of a maths teacher. I immediately volunteered to teach. But that did not happen then. So immediately after retirement, I contacted them and they lapped up the idea," he said.

Principal of the school, Dwijendra Nath Borthakur, said, "The retired DGP has been a great help as the school has been facing a shortage of mathematics teachers for quite some time. Like an experienced teacher he is serving our school. Students are really enjoying his classes."

Currently, he is taking only one class every day but Sahay hopes to take more in the future. "It's too early to assess the outcome of my service but I hope the students genuinely benefit. I will be able to assess my performance after a couple of months," he added.

Though mathematics is his favourite subject, Sahay feels teaching mathematics has become a major challenge for him now. "You can't teach maths in a hurry. Mathematics needs to be understood and learnt slowly. I'm too learning new things," he smiled.